Chapter One Summary

Venetia, set in regency England, is a romance novel about a woman on the verge of spinsterhood and a rake. Venetia is twenty-five years of age, virtually "on the shelf," and is the only person who is unconcerned about this fate. When she meets and falls in love with Damerel, who is held to be a man of low character, she must be clever if she is going to convince him that it is okay for them to marry.

Venetia has been left, almost all of her life, in virtual seclusion with Aubrey, her lame scholar of a little brother. Although she loves Aubrey, he is really a poor companion with his nose always in a book. If you wish to speak to him, you must say his name over and over simply to gain his attentions. He would rather read...